Do bus prices go down at the end of the year?

[eagle19952]

I'm certainly in the bottom end of the spectrum, but what I'm looking at are D series in the 5-10K range, up to an absolute maximum of 17 in a conversion or possibly partially converted bus, cash on the barrel head.

What do I want, and expect to get for that? Realistically, a '94 DL with under 700K miles (500 preferred), usable tires, brakes, batteries, A/C and alloy wheels with no damage or rust and no known electronics issues. 60 series engine and automatic transmission. Based on what I've seen I don't think that is too much to ask. But I'm not going to Nevada or Cali for it and will only consider one from there if the cost plus delivery puts it under my limits. So, up to $10K cash in hand for all the above at my location. For a clean attractive bus I'd pay that today and I have the money. A 40' D series would be something I'd be interested in also.

To some of you this might not seem reasonable. But, I've been watching for nearly 6 months now and I know that it is, and at auction I might do much better than that. It's just a matter of finding the right bus. For instance, I'm not even going to look at a bus with steel wheels unless it costs at least $1500 less than a comparable one with alloy wheels. That's the absolute minimum it appears to cost to switch. I will not consider a bus with inoperable A/C. I will not consider anything over my mileage limits. I will not consider anything but the barest minimum of exterior damage. The seats now, who cares. But if it doesn't run forget about it, and I'm very leery of anything from the rust belt (that sort of includes you too Canada.)

That still includes a lot of territory, and If Mike in LA has a bus that meets my requirements I am willing to talk. It could come to that. But I'm not automatically bouncing right on up to my cash limits either. After all, I'm starting to see some pretty attractive auction items.

Jim

So, your talking rolling seated shell ?
$17K  in a Series 60 conversion with plumbing, tanks, house batteries house AC and inverter w/gen wired seems pretty far fetched to me.

[Jim Blackwood]

Yep, to me too. So I'm not looking for that. If I happen across anything close I'll look.

No, the much more likely find is a seated coach. Don't need the seats obviously, may or may not be able to sell them so I won't count on that, most likely they will end up scattered amongst a few selected dumpsters somewhere. Or the landfill, depends on how energetic I'm feeling.

Anyway, my concept of a conversion is NOT a typical 2 bedroom house on wheels with all the amenities, and I see no real good reason yet for taking down all the overhead. Certainly the HVAC, lighting and storage could be handy. So I'm not making any plans to go ripping out anything other than the seats right off the bat. I have no real issue with the toilet being at the rear of the bus. Capacity may be a bit short but there are ways around that. I see no real reason why a shower couldn't be back there too. Yes I'd have to walk around the bed but a standard Queen size is 60" wide which leaves a 3 ft wide isle on one side. Surely that is enough, provided the overhead can be kept out of the way. Then I need a room for a workshop. Where that is located is an open question but the most likely spot seems to be amidships with the galley and dining area forward. Pretty common floorplan I would think with the exception of the head and shower locations. and shouldn't be too hard to integrate most of the existing overhead.

Jim